Abstract

Set against the backdrop of a competitive TV quiz show in Japan, Ogawa’s pseudo-detective novel sets out to explain a very strange crime: how the finalist of a TV quiz show, Kizuna Honjō, managed to come up with the correct answer to the winning question before it had even been read aloud.
The novella is told from the perspective of Honjō’s opponent, Reo Mishima. The story begins during the final round of the Q-1 GRAND PRIX quiz show, which is being broadcast live on Japanese TV. Mishima, an experienced player with a strong track record, is sure he’ll win against Honjō, a relative newcomer to the world of quiz shows.
In the first few pages of the novella, we learn about the tactics used by competitive quiz show players, one of which involves anticipating the question that will be asked before the announcer finishes reading it, since the goal is to come up with the correct answer before your opponent does. We witness an impressive combination of reflex and reasoning as both Mishima and Honjō consistently produce the correct answers to questions about obscure topics in everything from sports trivia to military history, after hearing only the first few words of the question read out loud.
But this tactic takes a shocking turn when, in the final tiebreaker question, determining who will win the prize money of ten million yen, Honjō blurts out the answer before the announcer has even had a chance to begin reading the question—and the answer is correct. Mishima is convinced that Honjō cheated by gaining access to the quiz questions ahead of time, or that this is the result of devil’s magic.
Mishima gathers clues and evidence to help him understand how Honjō pulled off the feat. And.....
This novel offers a revealing glimpse into the mind of high level quiz show competitors, using a form of popular entertainment—the TV quiz show—to comment on the nature of memory, knowledge, and experience

Author’s Information

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